Travel-related search queries have increased 27 per cent this year, with the vogue being luxury, honeymoon, and safari destinations
Connecting with locals, discovering fascinating locales, exploring culinary gems and holistic wellness are some of the key motivations for travellers. While for others, it ranges from a lavish stay to an adrenaline-charged adventure. With the New Year inching closer, Google India has unveiled the top travel trends observed from September to November this year, highlighting the search behaviour transformations of the audience, compared with travellers’ data documented during the same period in 2016.
With 27 per cent increase in holiday-related queries where most people searched for — luxury, honeymoon and safari destinations. Both international and domestic luxury searches have increased by 34 per cent, amid online hunts for royal staycations, that has spiked 12 times.
The quest for warmer topographies and related activities become widespread during winters, which can be gauged through a 32 per cent rise in safari destination explorations. Searches for desert safari in Dubai, night safari in Singapore, Bali safari and marine Park as well as Safari World in Bangkok have surged.
Other than aspiring for a warmer panorama, winter also marks the dawn of the wedding season and with it honeymoon plans. Seychelles, Maldives, and Bali turned out to be among the most-preferred international destinations for honeymooners’ this season as the trends show a 40 per cent rise in these queries.
The search perusal for exotic locales such as The Vatican has grown almost eight times, followed by Myanmar by three times and Hungary two times. The key words for the search include — private tours of the Sistine Chapel after-hours, what to see at the Vatican MuseumIJ, Myanmar tourism, Burma tourist map and things to do in Budapest.
Travel trends-wise, it is amusing to find out that Dubai has retained the top spot as the most searched destination, followed by Bangkok, Thailand, and Disneyland USA. Apart from the queries for destination activities such as safaris, cricket as an international excursion has observed a rise of 456 per cent, fuelled by matches held at Melbourne, Australia and lords, UK.
God’s own country — Kerala has retained its popularity as the most crowd-pleasing destination for domestic travellers. Weekend getaways, specifically near Delhi, has become an extremely popular search term, culminating in a 361 per cent increase. Hence, places like Rajasthan and Srinagar known for its fervent tourism, are being favoured amongst domestic travel pursuits in comparison to other locations.
The trends also cite that sightseers are planning their travel in advance, as last-minute bookings has reduced by 17 per cent for domestic travel and 20 per cent for international trips. The proliferation of smartphones has further made it possible for travellers to research, plan their itinerary and single out their travel prospects real-time. The search data indicates two out of three holiday-related searches are now happening on mobile devices and searches on desktops have reduced.